Social Studies for 9th E.B.G. – Teacher: Mauricio Torres

PELOPONNESIAN WAR

ANCIENT GREECE

WAR BEGINS• The Delian league was not the only alliance. Cities in southern Greece banded together

alongside Sparta.

• Because it was located in the Peloponnesus, it was called the Peloponnesian League.

• Spartans declared war on Athenians, thus beginning the Peloponnesian War.

THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND

• At first it appeared that Athens would win. Their powerful navy dominated the Mediterranean Sea. However, Sparta’s hatred of Athens was deep. The Spartans made a deal with Persia, their former enemy. They traded the Persians land for money. Sparta then used this gold to build a navy of their own.

ATHENS LOSES THE LEAD• In the third year of the war, more than half the people in the city of

Athens died – not from fighting - from illness. People from the surrounding countryside had fled inside the city gates, fleeing Spartan attacks. The city was not prepared for that many people to live in Athens. There was not enough food. They did not have a way to safely remove waste. It was a mess.

• One of those who died was the young leader Pericles.

WAR AT SEAS• Athens had a huge and powerful navy, that

allowed them to transport goods into the city. Also they ruled the seas for some time.

• The fight spread out as far as the Greek colony of Syracuse (modern day Sicily). Because Athenians were battling Sparta’s allies. But since Sparta now had a navy, they were able to chase the Athenians all around the Mediterranean and the Aegean.

• The Athenian army was crushed by the Spartans and Sicilians. It was a disaster. Those who survived were taken prisoners.

• The Athenian navy was destroyed almost entirely too.

WAR OF ATTRITION• Spartans surrounded Athens, in hopes that Athenians would

come out to fight. Instead, they locked themselves inside the city, waiting for the Spartans to get tired and leave. The Spartans on the other hand, expected for the Athenians to surrender.

• Before they left, Spartans would burn and destroy crops to leave Athenians without resources. This is called war of attrition.

• For decades, the war tore the city-states of Greece apart. Things got a lot worse after that. Athens suffered from poor leadership, a lack of food, and continued illness. They were starving. The Spartans had the town surrounded. The Athenians could not get to their crops. Finally, in April, in the year 404 BCE, Athens surrendered.

ASK YOURSELF• Recall:

• What is war of attrition?

• Analyze:

• What causes led to the defeat of Athens?

• Evaluate:

• What was the error in the Athenian strategy against Sparta?

• Against the Persians, Greeks joined together to battle a common foe. This made them powerful. After that, they fought each other. What was the result of this?

BIBLIOGRAPHY• Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History (Teacher´s Edition) (1st Edition ed.).

(H. McDougal, Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

• Peloponnesian War for Kids: http://greece.mrdonn.org/peloponnesianwar.html

• Images taken from www.google.com